Silver Whisper 4/8 Cruise Review

PRE-CRUISE: Antigua/ Stayed at the Jolly Harbor Villas and the two bedroom villas were very comfortable, but not extravagant. Everything on the island was booked because it was Easter Week, the Cricket Championships were being played there, and there was a convention for Netherlands Telecom underway, so everything was quite busy.

Did a tour of the island the following morning with Lawrence of Antigua (yes, I thought that it was funny also). For $100 he picked us up at the hotel and gave us a 4-hour tour of the island before dropping us at the ship. He was truly fantastic. If anybody were traveling to Antigua, I would highly recommend using his services. He took us along the coast, up to the rain forest and then back down to English Harbour. Followed by Nelson's Dockyard where we saw ships from all over the world getting prepared for the big regatta the following week. Then up to Shirley Heights for a fantastic view, back down the coast and delivered us and our luggage to the ship about 3:30. We were going to do some shopping, but the town was packed, due to 4 mega ships in port that day. The Costa Romantica, HAL Maasdam, Celebrity Constellation, and one other that I can't remember. It was funny, because onboard ship they actually apologized for the mass of humanity in port that day!!!!

EMBARKATION: The easiest that we have ever seen. Dropped our bags at the pier, where we were greeted by Hotel Director Ken Fella, who directed us to the ship. As soon as we boarded we were greeted with a glass of champagne our carry ons were taken from us and we were escorted to the reception desk on deck 5, where we gave them our passports, and received our room keys. Then another glass of champagne (guess we were thirsty) had our pictures taken and was lead to our room. No lines anywhere!!!! Once in our room we were greeted by our room stewardess Alessandra and shown everything in our room. There was a bowl of fruit and a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for our arrival. We had just popped the cork to celebrate (yes we were thirsty again!!! LOL), when there was a knock at the door and our bags were set on the bed for us to unpack.

MUSTER DRILL: Only reason that I am bringing this up, is because this was one of the funniest that we had experienced in 13 cruises. We were directed to our muster stations, checked off the list, and then led to the theater for a rather thorough safety presentation lead by the cruise director, including how to yell "man overboard", We later found out that Captain Casaro lectures and trains on ships safety.

ROOM: Vista Suite #529, which is 287 sq ft with non-private balcony. Spacious granite bathroom with dual vanities, bathtub, and separate shower. Supplied with Bulgari toiletries, bathrobes, and towels.

King size bed with Frette linens, duvet cover, and down pillows. Had to be the most comfortable bed that we have ever had on any ship. Nice dressing table with chair, and end tables.

Walk in closet and drawer space for clothes was a little tight. Not bad for a 7 day cruise, but could be a problem for longer cruises. However, there is a launderette also onboard.

Nice sitting area with coffee table that converts to dining table for ensuite dining, sofa, chair, and a built in desk w/ chair, storage, and mini-fridge also compliment the room.

Last but not least, is that non-private balcony, which are the most prized Vista Suite cabins. There are only 9 of these and two of those are handicapped cabins. There was never anybody out on the balconies and it was like we had all this space to ourselves.

PUBLIC AREAS: Very well laid out. We had 374 people onboard and the ship has a capacity of 382. We never felt crowded, never had to wait in line, and we could always find a lounge by the pool, a seat in the theater, etc. etc. One evening at sunset, my wife and I were the only ones on the aft terrace, sipping champagne watching the sunset, when the Captain, brought his tea out and joined us.

FOOD: Very, Very Sumptuous. It was the best that we have ever experienced onboard. Only complaint was that some of the pastries and breads tended to be a little overdone.

Highlight was the BBQ on the pool deck when we were in Martinique. It was fantastic. I had never seen such a lavish spread. Even had a whole pig on a spit and my personal favorite, grilled lobster tails. It was a perfect al fresco evening. Another highlight for us was dinner with the Captain and dinner at the Le Champagne Restaurant. However, it is hard to get into especially on a full ship. You have to book early. There were only about 6 to 8 tables and the most that they can accommodate is a table for 6.

SERVICE: As good if not better than Seabourn. Always friendly and courteous and unobtrusive. Just about anything you could ask for. We had a small problem with one of the shore excursions and when it was brought to their attention, they offered everybody that was on that excursion a discount and a letter of apology. No excuses!!! Room service always showed up at the time requested and was excellent.

DISEMBARKATION: Again the easiest that we ever experienced. We were staying over in Barbados. Had to be out of our room by 8:30am but could relax and get off the ship at our leisure. We had breakfast at the Terrace Restaurant and headed off the ship about 10:00am walked to the terminal, found our bags, had the porter load them and take us through customs, out the door and to an awaiting cab to take us to our hotel.

PORTS: Other than the embarkation port (Antigua) and our debarkation port (Barbados), the islands we visited were the out of the way smaller islands that most of the larger cruise ships do not call on, such as Grenada, Bequia, Isla Margarita, Trinidad, and Martinique. We had not crowds to have to deal with and some of the ports, such as Grenada and Bequia, were the most picturesque that we have ever seen. St. Georges, Grenada kind of reminds me of Portofino, Italy. Only disappointment, at least for my wife, is the shops were closed in Grenada, because it was Easter Monday.

WEATHER: Close to perfect. We had the usual Caribbean afternoon shower or two, but no lasting problems.

ENTERTAINMENT: Maybe not as elaborate as you get on a mega ships, but definitely a lot more intimate. We enjoyed it a lot.

POST-CRUISE: Barbados. Stayed at the Casaurina Beach Resort. Lovely grounds, but the rooms are just so-so. Very comfortable though. Great shopping and beautiful beaches.

WOULD WE SAIL ON THE SILVER WHISPER AGAIN? Just say when!!! We are ready to go right now!!!

I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Carnival Mardi Gras - 04/75

NCL Skyward - 05/84

NCL Southward - 04/91

Carnival Ecstasy - 12/93

Crown Princess - 12/94

Seabourn Legend - 05/96

Enchantment of the Seas - 08/01

Celebrity Infinity - 10/01

Rhapsody of the Seas - 11/02

Splendour of the Seas - 4/03

Splendour of the Seas - 10/03

Silver Whisper 4/04

RSSC Diamond 8/04

Golden Princess 11/04

Celebrity Infinity - 4/05

Until our Silver Whisper Cruise

Until our RSSC Diamond Cruise

Until our Golden Princess Cruise

Until our Infinity Hawaii Cruise

CRUISINSINCE75,

Just booked the Silver wind for March 2005.One question for now,My wife wants to know when wine is served in the dinning room do you have a choice or is it whats on the menu for that evening.Do they just pour or are you given a bottle to keep on ice if yuo order white wine?

We were on the same cruise as just reviewed. We belong to the ABC (anything but chardonnay) crowd, and never had any difficulty at all in getting an alternative wine. Our favorites were Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and Gavi di Gavi.

I agree with the review, although there were more service lapses than I would have expected. We were seated for 45 minutes at the deck barbecue before receiving any wine/water service. Still, the food was excellent--we especially enjoyed the alternative Terrace Cafe dinners.

LOUISCG,

We belong to the same club,Also a good dry Sauvignon Blanc. But I love your choises,Thanks for the info.

As far as the wines, they just pour. He wines are of the $15-$20 varieties and they usually start you out with a white wine, either chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc, and you can switch over to red wine which is generally a cabernet sauvignon.

The champagne is Philliponat, which we found better than the much touted Moet.

Don

Carnival Mardi Gras - 04/75

NCL Skyward - 05/84

NCL Southward - 04/91

Carnival Ecstasy - 12/93

Crown Princess - 12/94

Seabourn Legend - 05/96

Enchantment of the Seas - 08/01

Celebrity Infinity - 10/01

Rhapsody of the Seas - 11/02

Splendour of the Seas - 4/03

Splendour of the Seas - 10/03

Silver Whisper 4/04

RSSC Diamond 8/04

Golden Princess 11/04

Celebrity Infinity - 4/05

Until our Silver Whisper Cruise

Until our RSSC Diamond Cruise

Until our Golden Princess Cruise

Until our Infinity Hawaii Cruise

The Le Champagne Restaurant,is it possible to book on line before we leave?Thru Silverseas web site?

We were on this segment as well as the previos one. Embarkation on the 29th was a simplke as that descrived for the 8th. We founds the food and service to be as fine as any we have wxperienced on 14 other sailings. The ship's personel were uniforlmy friendly and helpful. We found the entertainment to be as good as those we had on zseveral megaliners..especially the production numbers.

Unfortunately we were uncable to hook up with the cruise crutic group because of the varios fire musters..we did hpwever run into several individually.

The surprising thing was the large numbers of non-Americans aboard. This truely enhanced the cruise expewrience. The only poor thing about the ship is its computer and internet setup..hopefully thay will update equipment and connections before too long.

The ports with a couple of exceptions were unrem akable.

Hello. I was on the same cruise and it was my first time as well. I enjoyed everything about the cruise however I disagree with those non-private balcony cabins on Deck 5. You really dont have much privacy as you have to keep the curtains drawn during the day in case someone does walk by. There is much more light than in the regular Vista suites though. Also we paid $35 per person for a" private" transfer from Antigua port to the ship and this "private "transfer turned out to be a crowded van with 6 other people going to the ship. Others paid $8 for the same type of van with just 2 in it! I have written to Silversea but no one has replied. I think they need some direction with transfer!

Also, was there really a Contessa and a "sir" onboard?

If there was, I didn't know about it. However, we were treated like royalty!!! LOL

We really enjoyed our non private balcony. Loved being able to step right out and enjoy the sea air. I know what you mean about the privacy, but it did not become an issue for us.

Carnival Mardi Gras - 04/75

NCL Skyward - 05/84

NCL Southward - 04/91

Carnival Ecstasy - 12/93

Crown Princess - 12/94

Seabourn Legend - 05/96

Enchantment of the Seas - 08/01

Celebrity Infinity - 10/01

Rhapsody of the Seas - 11/02

Splendour of the Seas - 4/03

Splendour of the Seas - 10/03

Silver Whisper 4/04

RSSC Diamond 8/04

Caribbean Princess 11/04

Celebrity Infinity - 4/05

Until our RSSC Diamond Cruise

Until our Caribbean Princess Cruise

Until our Infinity Hawaii Cruise

I just read your review. I have suite 529 on the cruise from Barcelona to Athens starting on June 7th. Was glad to hear the the bed was confortable. I'm by myself, so the closet space should be sufficient. Is there anyone else on that cruise?

We have some pictures of the ship and cabin here if you want to see them. Hope this helps.

http://community.webshots.com/album/135044227dTDnUt/0

Don

Carnival Mardi Gras 04/75

NCL Skyward 05/84

NCL Southward 04/91

Carnival Ecstasy 12/93

Crown Princess 12/94

Seabourn Legend 05/96

Enchantment of the Seas 08/01

Celebrity Infinity 10/01

Rhapsody of the Seas 11/02

Splendour of the Seas 4/03

Splendour of the Seas 10/03

Silver Whisper 4/04

Until Our Caribbean Princess Cruise

Until Our Infinity Cruise

Until Our RSSC Diamond Cruise

Until Our Silver Whisper Cruise

Thanks so much!! I've read the different messages on the suites, so this shows me that the suite will be just fine. It's my first Silverseas cruise.

Again, thanks

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